Shemoneh Esrei 20 - Baruch Atah Hashem
ברוך אתה ה
The conclusion of each of the “request brachos” in our Shemoneh Esrei is in reality another statement of emunah and brings us closer to Hashem. We acknowledge that only You, Hashem, are the one and only source of whatever we are asking for. It is not only material items that we depend on Hashem for. In this first brachah, we state that only You are the source of daas. Many erroneously assume that when it comes to spiritual matters, especially learning Torah, we can handle that on our own through our superior intellect. This brachah acknowledges that this is simply not true.
HaRav Shlomo Wolbe zt”l discusses the Gemara in Nidah (70b) where the people of Alexandria asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananyah what actions people must do to be become wise (in Torah). He answered that they must limit their involvement in business and increase their time in learning Torah. The people asked: But many did so and it did not help them. Rabbi Yehoshua responded that they should request compassion from Hashem, since all wisdom is His. The Gemara concludes that both spending more time learning and asking Hashem for compassion are necessary to acquire wisdom of Torah. Rav Wolbe comments:
If only the people of Torah would know this, they would pour out their hearts in tefilah. And who knows how many potential g’dolei Torah are lost and do not realize their full capabilities because their tefilos are rushed without kavanah from the depths of their hearts. The same is true for one involved in business. Who knows how much siyata diShmaya (heavenly assistance) one robs himself of because he does not daven with focus and deliberation with a minyan, instead rushing through the tefilah to run to his business (Alei Shur 2:590-591).
There are many stories of g’dolei ha’dor turning to Hashem through tefilah specifically for their learning. One such very recent gadol was HaRav Shmuel Wosner zt”l (Sheivet HaLevi). The following was part of a hesped delivered by HaRav Avraham Tzvi Wosner shlita, a grandson and talmid muvhak of the Sheivet HaLevi (and rav and dayan in Monsey):
When the Sheivet HaLevi was a young boy and up until and even after he became a bar mitzvah, his m’lamed who taught him Torah told his parents that he had a weak average mind and should not be asked to learn more than 15 minutes at a time and then take a break (Rav Wosner asked the Sheivet HaLevi to repeat this story for accuracy when he visited just a couple of months before his p’tirah). He constantly cried out to Hashem in tefilah to open his mind in Torah. When he eventually went to learn at the Nitra Rav (about age 14) and later to Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, he applied himself with a passion and determination that included not leaving the building/courtyard of the yeshivah for 1½ years. Late at night, he would go out for fresh air to the courtyard where he had a corner spot amongst the trees and grass, where he would cry out to Hashem. He was known throughout his life for his heartfelt tefilah – while standing completely erect and still – as a servant before a king, pleading with tears.
At the age of 100 (during this most recent visit), he was upset that he no longer had the energy (he was giving shiur up to that point) to spread Torah personally through his shiur. When he tried to console him, pointing out that he was in fact spreading Torah through his s’farim, talmidim, and batei horaah throughout the world, he just repeated his disappointment that he could no longer personally give shiur. During this same visit, Rav Wosner overheard the Sheivet HaLevi crying during Hashiveinu Avinu l’Sorasecha (He mentioned that the Sheivet HaLevi davened at this age, late in life, a little more loudly than his customary silent tefilah) and speculated that perhaps it was this expression of so badly wanting to continue to spread Torah through his shiur that he was crying out to Hashem about.
Rav Wosner concluded his hesped by stating that the Sheivet HaLevi did not come from a home of a rosh yeshivah (His father was a “baal-habos”), did not have money for basic food for tens of years, and was not brilliant. His success as a gadol ha’dor seems to have had a lot to do with his tearful and heartfelt tefilos and m’siras nefesh, displayed through his iron determination and passion for Torah and yir’as Shamayim. These ingredients are there for the taking for all of us.